Betty LaGrone, executive director of The River Valley Arts Center, will soon say goodbye to her job of the last 12 years.

With her passion for the arts, and her genuine love of the Arts Center, LaGrone said the decision to leave was very difficult.

“I’m not an artist. People ask me what I do and I say, ‘I’m a manager,’ but I love music and art,” LaGrone said. “I still think, ‘Have I done the right thing?’ Because I do love working here.”

LaGrone said she has enjoyed every day at her job but that it’s time she take a different path.

“This is a job where I can spend my day working with people who care about the community and care about the arts,” LaGrone said. “Really, every day I have woken up and thought, ‘Lucky me, I get to got to the Arts Center, ‘ but I guess there comes a time, especially when you’ve worked as long as I have, when it’s time to scale back a little.”

LaGrone said people of the community who support the center and the artists in the area have been very pleasant to work with. The agency’s board of directors are great people who are willing to give their time to make sure the center survives and thrives, and she really appreciates that.

“It’s a really pleasant place to be because you’re always surrounded by beautiful art work and by people who are involved because they want to be, as opposed to some places where people are there because they have to be,” she said.

After leaving the center, LaGrone will be working for her son and his wife’s construction company.

She said at the Arts Center, the responsibility really fell on her, while this new job will allow her more freedom.

“I’ve got this huge family,” LaGrone said. “I’m kind of a hands-on grandmother. I like to do things with them and now I’ll have more time to spend with my family.”